


Of Worth

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 20:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14922093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: After Rose assists BB-8 with repairs to Poe's ship, she gets an unexpected thank you.





	Of Worth

Rose swept the back of her hand across her forehead and then immediately regretted it; she probably had a greasy smear across her face now. “Lucky I’ve got no one to impress,” she muttered to herself.

BB-8 beeped a curious inquiry, which Rose waved off. “Never mind, Beebee-Ate, I’m just talking to myself. Ignore me.” She put her hands on her hips and observed her and the droid’s work. “We’re getting there, anyway. Poe sure did a number on this poor ship.”

Mournfully, BB-8 agreed.  _ [Partner-Poe has an above average probability to get into trouble on missions.] _

Rose chuckled. “Good thing he’s got you to bail him out, then, and to fix up this beauty.” She stroked the side of the X-wing. She knew that Poe missed his  _ Black One  _ but her replacement was a hell of a ship.

Just, you know. As prone to getting damaged during Poe’s crazy missions as  _ Black One  _ had been. Poe remained the finest pilot Rose had ever seen but his stunts had consequences, and he attracted trouble like no other.

_ [Affirmative! Partner-Poe would have a far smaller chance of survival without my assistance. His fortune is also improved by your presence.] _

“Me?” Rose said, blinking down at the droid. “What’ve I done?”

BB-8 rolled forward and tapped a clamping appendage against the X-wing.  _ [Assisted in repairs?]  _ He sounded almost confused, as though he couldn’t make sense of Rose’s response.

“Oh. Well, yes, I suppose I have. But he could do it without me, I just figured he’s so busy, and the ground crew have all got their hands full.” Though they were steadily recovering and growing after Crait, their numbers were still depleted and there was so much work to do, rebuilding their fleet, fixing up old model starships they managed to acquire. Honestly it was a pleasure to be able to tinker with Poe’s ship, the nicest starfighter they had. From what Rose had heard, Wedge Antilles had been involved in its acquisition.

_ [You are ten point two percent more efficient at repairs than Partner-Poe.] _

“Really? Huh. I mean, I just…” Rose looked away for a moment and then back at the X-wing. “Well, I’d better get back to work then or my efficiency ratio will slide.”

BB-8 chirped in the affirmative and Rose smiled to herself.

-

In a perfect galaxy Rose would have had a week to work on Poe’s ship. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect galaxy. She had three days before Poe needed it.

It was a close thing, but Rose felt like she’d done the best she could and that Poe would be pleased with the result. BB-8 was a good partner; Rose could see why Poe was so fond of him.

Then again, BB-8 had also proven exceedingly useful in tight spots and Rose had known that since Canto Bight. He did have an alarming tendency towards illegal activity but Rose was fairly certain Poe must already realize that.

In any case, the X-wing was flyable and Poe took her out on schedule. Rose would’ve hated being responsible for causing any sort of delay to the Resistance or to what Poe did for them, so she couldn’t deny a small sense of relief that she was able to finish.

She would like, though, when Poe came back, to maybe see if she and BB-8 could improve a few things she hadn’t been able to get to. If she could do anything that would help him to - 

“I owe you a thank you.”

It wasn’t that Rose didn’t recognize the voice; of course she did. It was more that she was surprised to look up from the mess of parts on the table in front of her to see Poe, entirely focused on her. She hadn’t realized he’d returned yet. “A what? You do?”

He was smiling a little. “For my ship. Beebee-Ate said you helped him.”

“Oh!” Rose stood up too quickly, banging her hip on the table. She bit her lip to cover up her wince. “Yes! Your ship! It needed a lot of work, and I had a minute, and Beebee-Ate--”

“Rose,” Poe interrupted, laughing, “just let me thank you. You did a great job; she flew like a dream.”

Rose felt a blush rise in her skin. “Really? I mean, of course! I’m glad.”

“Beebee-Ate was highly complimentary of your skills. Couldn’t stop enthusing about you.”

“What?”

Poe moved closer to her; his smile was genuinely lovely. “He’s not terribly forthcoming with praise; you must’ve really impressed him. He liked you from Canto Bight but now you’ve truly won him over.”

“I kind of thought he was irritated at the messes Finn and I kept getting into.”

“Nah,” Poe said, waving that off. “Are you kidding? He flies with me. I get into way worse scrapes than you two did.”

“That’s accurate,” Rose said before resisting the urge to clap a hand over her mouth. Stars. What had driven her to say that out loud?

Except Poe was laughing again. “Don’t let him fool you; Beebee-Ate enjoys showing up the organics and saving the day. Bit of a hero complex. You know?”

Rose grinned at him, liking the faintly wry set to Poe’s expression. Like human, like droid, apparently, and Poe was self-aware enough to poke fun at that. She had a sudden thought that maybe Poe encouraged BB-8’s predilection towards illegality, in a ‘whatever got the job done’ sort of way. Poe might have been an officer but he wasn’t above bending the rules when he needed to.

“Anyway,” Poe said, “I came over because I wanted to thank you, and also to give you something.”

“Give me something?”

“As a thank you.”

Rose noticed the bag slung over Poe’s shoulder; he was reaching into it now. He held out a melon and she stared at him.

“Er,” he said. “Koyo melon? My dad grows them on Yavin Four, he ships them to me sometimes. I remembered how much you and your sister loved D’Qar, the jungle and the plant life and everything, so I thought… Maybe you’d like some fruit from my home? I guess it was kind of stupid.”

Rose let him ramble on a bit awkwardly only because she was so surprised; she didn’t know quite what to say. She knew Poe more as an idea than an actual person, Commander Dameron, the pilot, Finn’s friend. The most interaction she had ever had with him remained their time on the  _ Raddus,  _ hashing out their plan, everyone stressed and exhausted. The idea that he had noticed anything about her, and that he would be kind, was…

“Thank you,” she blurted out. “Really, thank you.”

He seemed taken aback, still holding the fruit in his palm. “It was to thank  _ you _ . It’s not anything, really, I just… I wanted to thank you. I don’t think anyone does that enough, for what you do here.”

“I don’t--”

“Rose,” Poe said, so firm and intent. “Finn talks about you, and I know what you think. But you mean something to the Resistance; you mean a lot. We couldn’t function without what you do, and without your will and your cheer and just… you. So just let me give you this dumb fruit, okay?”

Rose had been gazing at him with wide eyes, her skin heating up, but as he finished she couldn’t help but giggle. “You’re terrible at this, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Poe said, the corners of his mouth upturning. “But I mean it. Thank you. And have the fruit. Please.”

“I’ll accept happily,” she said, and held out her palm for Poe to hand the melon off. She raised it to her nose and breathed in; she loved the fresh, sweet smell of it. “Thank you for… for meaning that.”

Poe’s smile widened a bit further. “Beebee-Ate says to tell you that you’re welcome to help him repair my damage any time, and honestly, that would be amazing. If you want to, and have the time. I know you have other things to do.”

“I love your ship,” Rose gushed, liking the way it made Poe brighten. It was nice to be a nerd around someone who understood. Finn tried but ships were just really not his thing. “I was telling Beebee-Ate about some of the improvements I’d love to have the chance to work on, if it was okay with you.”

“He told me. I’d love to talk to you about it? If you wanted?”

Rose rolled the melon between her hands. “I’m free now, if you are.”

“Sure,” Poe said, and gestured in the direction of the hangar. “You can start filling me in on the way?”

“To warn you, Finn says I babble,” Rose said, but Poe brushed her elbow.

“Babble away,” he said, so Rose did.

**_End_ **


End file.
